To Make Short Cakes from the Good Huswifes Handmaid of 1594

Original Recipe:

The GoodHuswifes Handmaid from 1594

To make short Cakes.

<"219">TAke wheate flower, of the fayrest ye can get, and put it in an earthern pot, and stop it close, and set it in an Ouen and bake it, and when it is baken, it will be full of clods, and therefore ye must searse it through a search: the flower will haue as long baking as a pastie of Uenison. When you haue done this, take clowted Creame, or els sweet Butter, but Creame is better, then take Sugar, Cloues, Mace, and Saffron, and the yolke of an Egge for one doozen of Cakes one yolke is ynough: then put all these foresaid things together into the cream, & temper them al together, then put them to your flower and so make your Cakes, your paste wil be very short, therefore yee must make your Cakes very litle: when yee bake your cakes, yee must bake them vpon papers, after the drawing of a batch of bread.  

Modern Recipe Interpretation:
 

2/3 cup flour
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp ground mace
pinch saffron
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix ingredients together. Bake for 10 minutes Yield: 12 cakes (cookies)

For video instruction, please click here.

Lesson Learned:

Originally, I had baked this recipe with 3/4 cup of flour. However, I found that that made the dough a little too dry and crumbly. I think just adding a little less flour (so, 2/3 cup of flour) does the trick for everything being well balanced with this recipe.

Other Recipes mentioned in the above video link:

To Make a Fine Sugar Cake

(A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen by John Murrell in 1617)

To make Shrewsbury Cakes from 1658

Take two pound of floure dryed in the Oven and weighed after it is
dryed, then put to it one pound of Butter that must be layd an hour or
two in Rose-water, so done poure the Water from the Butter, and put the
Butter to the flowre with the yolks and whites of five Eggs, two races
of Ginger, and three quarters of a pound of Sugar, a little salt, grate
your spice, and it well be the better, knead all these together till you
may rowle the past, then roule it forth with the top of a bowle, then
prick them with a pin made of wood, or if you have a comb that hath not
been used, that will do them quickly, and is best to that purpose, so
bake them upon Pye plates, but not too much in the Oven, for the heat of
the Plates will dry them very much, after they come forth of the Oven,
you may cut them without the bowles of what bignesse or what fashion you
please.

Shrewsbury Cakes from 1721